Earlier this year I was being a silly meathead at the gym and I tried deadlifting more weight than the guy next to me... big mistake. What followed was a debilitating lower back injury that made it hard to do even simple tasks - like simply rolling over in bed. Still, being the typical guy, it took me a month to finally see a doctor, and 3 months to get around to making a physical therapy appointment.
Someone I know had recently finished Physical therapy at Novacare for ankle surgery and she highly recommended it. We both study at Northwestern med, but the wait for an appointment at NW is looooong. Once I called Nova, I was able to be fit in reasonably quickly. I was partnered with Casie, who located the problem and set up an individual program for me to resolve the pain. She's super sweet and excellent at what she does, and she seems to genuinely like her job. I have never done Physical therapy before so I wasn't sure what to expect or if it would even work, but I couldn't take any more of my back pain and was willing to try anything.
My results may or may not be typical, but after months and months of suffering, my back pain started to dissipate after only 2 weeks (with 2 appts a week). Now a month later I'm once again doing lower-back-involved exercises at the gym that I haven't been able to do in so long! I hardly feel the pain any more. So needless to say I'm very impressed with Casie and would recommend her to anyone.
A note on their appointment "styles" - I notice someone down below didn't take kindly to it. At a typical appointment, you're PT will be assisting both you and another patient. I would get half her time on me specifically - massaging/working my back while another patient did their individual exercise/stretch routine. And then I'd do my exercise routine while she helped someone else individually. She was always there to demonstrate or watch my form while I stretched. This does not make for a crowded office - I always found it to be a relaxing and friendly environment, and never found a problem with it. read more